No Greater Love
by ILuvCops702
Summary: A U.S Marshals Fic. After tragedy strikes the team, Sam struggles to put his life back together, but when tragedy strikes again, will Sam be able to move on from his losses? Read & Review! UPDATED Chapter 5 now up!
1. Default Chapter

"**No Greater Love"**

**Chapter One**

"I hate mornings" Cosmo grumbled to himself as he made his way to his desk at the Chicago office of the U.S Marshals Service, "especially early mornings, the day shouldn't officially start until at least 10am."Shedding his coat, he went off in the direction of the conference room searching for a cup of coffee, after finally scoring a cup & thus feeling a little more awake, he made his way back to his desk returning just in time to see a bleary-eyed Bobby Biggs stumble through the door, "hey Biggs man, what happened to you? You look like shit." "Bobby Jr. kept us up all night" Bobby muttered stifling a yawn, "ah, the little tyke still not sleeping through the night huh?" Cosmo asked, "no & I'm starting to wonder if he ever will" Bobby answered heading off to the conference room for his own cup of coffee.

Bobby & Mary, his wife of three years, had just recently had a baby boy & it was proving itself out to be quite a big adjustment for all involved, "aw sure he will Bob, it'll just take a while that's all, Cosmo said trailing Bobby to the conference room "heck, maybe he'll turn out to be an early riser like you." "Early riser??!! speak for yourself," Bobby responded darkly just as the other two marshals, Noah Newman & Savannah Cooper wandered in "who's an early riser?" Noah asked heading for the coffee pot & began pouring two cups, one for him & one for Savannah "thanks" she said taking the cup Noah handed her, "oh, I was just telling Cosmo about Bobby Jr. keeping Mary & I up all night" Bobby said shaking his head, "I just don't know what we're gonna do if this keeps up, I don't know how much longer I can run on no sleep." "Don't worry Bobby," Savannah said, "it'll come soon" "I hope so" Bobby answered as the group started out of the conference room & headed to their respective desks, "hey, anyone seen Sammy?" Noah asked glancing at the clock on the wall, "isn't he usually here by now?" "Yeah, he usually beats us here" Cosmo said, "or he used to" he trailed off.

Everyone glanced at one another in concern, they had all sensed the change in Sam ever since Sam's boss, Catherine Walsh, had succumbed to cancer three months before, while they had all grieved, Sam, it seemed, took it the hardest of all, he was gruffer than usual & seemed to spend most of his time in his office only coming out when absolutely necessary & his team was beginning to worry about him, but they didn't know what to do, trying to get him to talk would do no good, past experiences had taught them that much, he would talk when he was good & ready & not a moment before.

At that very moment Sam was in his apartment struggling against the urge to call in sick, he hardly ever missed a day of work even when he was injured, but he just didn't know if he could face another day of concerned glances coming from his team, he knew that they were just worried about him though he had tried to hide it from them, he knew they sensed the change in him since Catherine's death but he couldn't bring himself to talk about it, he knew that if he tried, that he would lose control of his emotions & if there was one thing Sam detested it was not being in control. He looked at the clock on his nightstand "come on Sam," he muttered to himself, "better get your ass in gear or you'll wind up having the entire team over here busting the door down", he sighed & got up to get ready for the drive in to the office.

An hour later, Sam strode though the outer office straight into his office slamming the door shut behind him, garnering

he knew, more concerned glances from his "kids",as he called them but he was in no mood to explain himself. A moment later, Savannah came in with a cup of coffee & set it at his elbow, he heard her take a deep breath as if she was about to say something to him, but, he waved her off with a gruff "thanks" she sighed, turned & left the office quietly, as she pulled the office door shut behind her she glanced across the room at the other team members who were watching intently, she shrugged & shook her head at them indicating that she had not had any luck talking to Sam, "hell, he didn't even let me get a word out" she thought to herself as she made her way back to her desk "someone has got to get through to him, but who?" she wondered to herself as she stared at her computer screen for a while before mentally shaking herself, "I'm not gonna get any work done just sitting here" she scolded herself "I'll worry about Sam later" as she settled down to work.


	2. Memories

**Chapter Two: "Memories"**

Noah sighed as Savannah came out of Sam's office & shook her head at them, he'd hoped that she might be able to bring him out of his mood, though, deep down he knew it would take more than just talking for Sam to get over losing Catherine, heck, Noah had been through a lot himself, as he sat thinking about what had taken place three months ago, it had all started when Marshal Walsh had gone in to see the doctor as she hadn't been feeling well, the doctor had found something of concern so he sent her a specialist to have some tests run, those tests came back positive as the doctor had feared & she was diagnosed with cancer with no more than four months to live. At first, Catherine had chosen not to tell anyone, especially Sam, until it was apparent that she wouldn't be able to keep it from him forever, Sam had taken it hard, as she'd known he would, Noah would never forget the look on Sam's face when Sam had told the rest of the team the next morning. Sam had taken a leave of absence, with much protesting from Catherine, so that he could be with her every minute & he was, he never left her side for three months & was by her side the night she died, leaving Sam with knowledge of a secret that she had kept from him for years, a secret that was now Noah's secret as well & was, currently, being kept from the rest of the team. Noah thought back to the day Sam had called him into his office & showed him the birth certificate & the adoption papers, he thought back to what a shock it had been, though Noah had always known that he was adopted, his parents were very honest with him on that subject, but he'd never imagined that Sam, his boss, was his father, or that Catherine, Sam's boss, had been his mother, it had been a lot to take in all at once. Sam had asked Noah for the time being not to tell the rest of the team because there would be questions & Sam wasn't really up to answering questions, Noah didn't blame him there, but he also knew that they wouldn't be able to keep it quiet for long, sooner or later, the truth would come out.

"Hey, Newman, you ok over there?" Cosmo whispered jarring Noah from his train of thought, "huh?" Noah asked, "what did you say?", "boy, you were really spaced out, I asked if you were ok" Cosmo said, "oh, yeah I'm fine, was just thinking, that's all" Noah responded,"about?" Cosmo asked,"nothing" Noah answered avoiding his gaze "right kid," Cosmo said, his tone suggesting he didn't believe Noah but before he could question Noah further the door to Sam's office flew open & Sam came storming out "we got a fugitive" he said curtly.


	3. A Fugitive

**Chapter Three: "Fugitive"**

The room suddenly became a flurry of activity after Sam's announcement as the team gathered up their things in preparation to leave while Sam looked on impatiently, several minutes later, the team were in the Suburban heading towards the scene of the crime, "what have we got on this guy Sam?" Cosmo asked as they sped through the streets, "not a lot, other than his name, Michael Taylor, 21 years old" Sam said, shuffling through the papers on his lap,"police got a tip that he'd been seen in the neighborhood where his dad lives, his dad hadn't been seen in a couple of days & when they made entry into the house they found his dad stabbed to death, they're meeting us at the scene." "Ok people, this is how it's going to go, Savannah, you get the computer up & see what else you can dig up on this guy, I wanna know everything, relatives, friends, addresses, the whole bit" Savannah nodded, "Noah, I want you to talk to the neighbors, see what they can tell you, Bobby, I want you to take the camera & get some pictures, take a look around & see what you can find, Cosmo, you & I will coordinate with the police, everyone got that?" Sam snapped, everyone nodded, "good" he said.

When they pulled up to the address, everyone got out & scattered in their respective directions, Savannah booted the laptop up & began searching for the information Sam had asked for, Bobby grabbed the camera & with an officer escort disappeared into the house to take a look around & take some snapshots of the scene & Newman started interviewing the neighbors while Cosmo & Sam spoke to the officers who had first responded to the scene. After about an hour, Sam called everyone together for an update, "ok, people, what do we have?" Sam asked, "well, Sam I found the information you were looking for," Savannah said, "ok, let's have it" Sam responded "Michael Taylor, 21 years old, parents are divorced his mother, an ex-police officer, eventually remarried, no job to speak of, was kicked out of his mother's house & he's got quite a record here, arrests for DUI's, drugs, you name it" She said, "what about his friends?" Sam asked, "well, at least one has been convicted on three felony charges, a Jimmy Porter, the only other thing we got on him is where he lives, LaPorte, TX" Savannah answered, "what's his other friends' names?" "David Smith, James Delgado & Marc Johnson, none of them had any hits though" Savannah said, "where do they live?" Cosmo asked, "same town, LaPorte TX" Savannah answered, "where is LaPorte anyway?" Bobby asked, "it's in TX Bob, just like the lady said" Cosmo said, " I know that, I'm not deaf, where in TX?" Bobby shot back "it's in Clear Lake," Cosmo snarled.

"Ok, ok, people, enough, Bobby, you find anything unusual in the house?" Sam asked massaging the bridge of his nose, Bobby glared at Cosmo before answering, "well, there was no sign of forced entry although the place is pretty messy, you can definitely tell a fight went on in there." Sam turned to Newman, "Noah, what'd you find out from the neighbors?" "The neighbors all say pretty much the same thing, they'd seen Michael in the area off & on, they reported hearing loud arguments coming from the house regularly, but they said it never became physical before now." Noah replied, "always a first time for everything huh?" Cosmo said sarcastically, Sam turned to Savannah, "there was nothing in his file explaining why he would kill his dad?" Sam asked, Savannah shook her head, "no, although the file did say his parents had gone through a nasty divorce so I'd suspect that had something to do with it." Sam nodded, "and you say his mother & step-dad are still living?" "Yeah, they still live in LaPorte" Savannah answered, Sam stood up & said "well then, what do you say we pay them a little visit & see if we can get some answers here", the rest of the team nodded & began to gather their things together, Cosmo got on his cellphone to secure them reservations on a flight to TX for that evening while Sam thanked the police for their cooperation & to bring them up to speed. Cosmo flipped his phone shut, "ok Sam, we got seats on the next plane out to TX" he said, "good" Sam answered, "let's get going", the team clambered back into the Suburban & headed back to the office before catching their flight.

Back at the office Sam retreated into his office for the second time that day & shut the door the team all exchanged glances, "how much longer is he gonna keep doing that?" Bobby asked, Savannah threw him a dirty look, "Bobby would you lay off?" she exclaimed, "how do you think you'd feel if you lost Mary?" Bobby didn't answer he knew he'd feel just as lost as Sam was feeling, but he also knew that pushing people away didn't help "he can't run & hide forever 'Vannah, sooner or later he's gonna have to face it" Bobby said, "I know, but we're just gonna have to let him grieve in his own time" Savannah said, she started to say more but at that moment, Sam's office door opened & he strode across the room briskly, "ok, people let's move it, we've got a plane to catch" he snapped. They all piled into the Suburban & headed for the airport.


	4. In The Air

**Chapter Four: "In The Air"**

Once they were in the air Sam leaned his head back, closed his eyes & unwillingly his mind wandered right to

Catherine, his heart ached at the very thought of her, it seemed like he couldn't think of anything else lately, his mind wandered back over the years he'd known her, of the love they'd shared together & how their careers had eventually driven them apart, his thoughts then turning to the last three months they'd had together, he'd never forget the day that Catherine called him to her office & told him that she had cancer, he remembered feeling like someone had punched him in the stomach, he'd held her & they'd cried for what seemed like forever, but was really only a few minutes & then she'd told him what the doctors had told her, they gave her only four months, at the most, to live.

Sam had gone home that night feeling worse than he'd ever remembered feeling & it was then that he'd made a decision, he would take a leave of absence so that he could be with Catherine for the time she had, when he arrived at work the next morning, he'd called his team into a special meeting & informed them of Catherine's illness & his decision to take time off, they were stunned at the news & Cosmo had offered to fill in for Sam for as long as was needed & for which Sam was grateful, he knew that he could count on his "kids". The months that had followed had been the worst of Sam's life, he had hoped that the doctors would be wrong, but as the days & the weeks passed & Catherine got weaker & weaker, he knew that the time was at hand, the radiation treatments had caused her hair to fall out & the medications she was on made her extremely sick, it had eventually come to the point where she was bedridden & Sam had sat by her side every minute day & night, during that time they'd talked about their relationship all down through the years & the regret that they both felt for letting their careers get in the way & drive them apart.

Sam vividly remembered his final night with Catherine, the night she'd died, she had been going in & out of consciousness all day & he'd feared the end was near, then, late that night, Catherine came to full consciousness she kept saying she had something important to tell Sam, Sam tried to tell her not to talk, to save her strength, but Catherine insisted, she wanted to tell him the real reason she had left him all those years ago & then she told him something that he still had trouble believing, that he, Sam Gerard, had a son. Catherine had told him that she'd been terrified when she found out she was pregnant with his child, terrified of what Sam would say so she decided that leaving would be best, after the child was born she put him up for adoption & never saw him again, until the day Noah Newman joined the team, even then Catherine chose not to tell Sam fearing that he would shun the boy if he'd known.

At first Sam had chalked it up to the medication she was on & soon after, Catherine slipped away. Sam didn't think any more about what she'd told him until the day, several weeks after the funeral, he'd gone to her apartment to begin sorting through her things, he'd been going through her files & things when he'd come across a box that had been tucked away at the bottom of the desk drawer, curious, he'd opened it & found letters, photos, copies of adoption papers & a birth certificate that bore the name Noah Walsh with his & Catherine's names listed as the parents, "this can't be true," he'd thought bewildered & yet, deep in his heart he knew it was true, as he already looked on Noah as a son.

he remembered looking through the adoption papers & finding the name knew he would find, Noah W. Newman. After his find, he hadn't been able to do anything else so he'd gathered the contents of the box up & driven home his mind racing, as he drove he wondered whether Noah knew & if not he knew he'd have to tell him, it was only fair, but he would not tell the rest of the team, not yet, "better to let Noah & I get used to the idea before we tell the others," he'd thought.

The next morning, Sam had driven to work with the papers he'd found as he was going to tell Noah what he'd found, surprisingly enough Noah had beat Sam to the office that morning so they were able to talk alone. As soon as he'd gotten a cup of coffee, he'd called Noah into his office, "I need to talk to you a minute," he'd said after he'd shut the door & they gotten settled, "did I do something wrong boss?" Noah had asked, "no, no, it's just..there's something I need to tell you," Sam answered, then he'd slowly told Noah what Catherine had told him the night she died & he told him of the discovery that he'd made last night. "I found these papers here in a box in Catherine's desk, a birth certificate & copies of adoption papers...with your name on it," Sam said handing the papers across the desk to Noah, Noah, looking bewildered, scanned the adoption papers quickly, "I don't understand, I mean, I knew that I was adopted but, what you're saying.." he cut himself off abruptly as he looked at the birth certificate & caught sight of the names listed as his parents, Catherine Walsh & Sam Gerard, "you, you mean.." Noah looked at Sam "you're my father?" he finally choked out, overcome with emotion "yes" Sam whispered. "I..I just, it's a lot to take in ya know?" Noah said softly "I know it is son, it's hard for me too",but I want to you know that I never knew about this until right before Catherine died, before that she had never said a word to me so I hope you don't think I abandoned you" Sam said watching Noah intently "no, I know, I..I just need some time to think" Noah whispered, "I understand, take your time, it's going to take some getting used to, ok?" Sam answered, "you're excused". Noah got up, handed the papers back to Sam & hurried out of the office, Sam sighed softly, "well, that went pretty well I guess, at least he doesn't hate me." he thought to himself as he stared out the window overlooking the city.

Abruptly Sam was jarred from his thoughts by a voice & someone shaking his shoulder, "Sam? Sam, hey Sam wake up" Cosmo said, shaking his shoulder, "huh?" Sam muttered, "man, what is it with everybody spacing out today?" Cosmo exclaimed as Savannah jabbed him with her elbow, "ouch! hey..." he started to say before he caught Savannah glaring at him. Sam looked around quickly, the plane had landed & everyone was gathering their bags together, Sam stood up & they all filed off the plane Sam, half listening to his kids bickering, thinking to himself "it's going to be a long night."


	5. Looking For Answers

**Chapter Five: Looking For Answers**

The next morning dawned bright & early for the team as they prepared to meet with Michael's mother & step-dad to find out what they could about their fugitive."What was the address Savannah?" Cosmo asked sliding into the driver's seat as the others settled into their seats, "605 S. 2nd Street" Savannah replied, "got it" Cosmo answered as Sam flipped through the file, "so what's the story on these people?" Bobby asked, "mother, Anna Carey, an ex-police officer for the police department in the next town over, Seabrook worked there for 30 years before retiring. Recently remarried after several divorces, husband, David Carey, also recently retired."Sam read from the files Savannah had printed from the internet "hmm, maybe the remarrying bit was the reason Michael offed his dad," Cosmo commented, Savannah shook her head, "nothing in the file about that, although, the file did say that after his parents divorced, his dad never wanted anything to do with him, so that's more likely the reason," she said "well, I guess we're about to find out" Bobby answered noting that they'd arrived at their destination.

Sam led his team up the front walk to the door & knocked, while they waited they could hear a rather large dog barking & what sounded like a woman yelling at it, the team all glanced at one another & choked back snickers as they heard the door being unlocked, a second later they stood facing a woman in her early 50's with short auburn hair, "yes, can I help you?"she asked, Sam stepped forward with his credentials in his hand, "U.S Marshals ma'am, are you Mrs. Carey?" he asked "yes I am" she answered, "is there a problem?", "may we come in? we need to ask you & your husband some questions concerning your son Michael," Noah said, Mrs. Carey stepped back, "certainly, come on in while I get my husband," "thank you" Noah replied as the team filed inside silently.

Mrs. Carey came back a minute later with her husband David & introductions were passed around, "please have a seat," Mrs.Carey told them, "what can we help you with concerning Michael?" "Thank you ma'am" Sam said as they took their seats, "were you aware that your son is a suspect in the murder of your ex-husband, Doug Taylor?" Anna paled slightly at his question, "no I wasn't, when did this happen?" she asked, "two days ago" Bobby answered, "Jesus,I..I just can't believe he would do something like this," Anna said as her husband slipped his arm around her, Savannah leaned forward, "Anna, is there anything, anything at all that you can tell us that would help us find him or maybe you can tell us what would lead him to do this," she said. Anna shook her head, "I honestly couldn't tell you, our divorce wasn't the easiest in the world, his dad never had much contact with Michael afterwards if any at all & that wasn't something that was my doing, I never denied the man the right to see his son, he just didn't want anything to do with him & Michael was angry at him for that,"she paused for a second, "and at me as well I guess" she whispered.

"Why would Michael be angry at you?" Cosmo asked, Anna sighed," because I wasn't around as much as I should've been, being a police officer I couldn't always be around for school functions & things of that nature" she paused, "but I never dreamed he would kill him," "Anna, can you explain how Michael came to be kicked out of the house?" Sam asked, "he was kicked out because he couldn't hold down a job, I was paying for everything & I was sick of him disregarding everything I said," she answered, "he wouldn't listen to anything my wife & I said, David interjected, "he acted like he owned the place & every time we would call him on it, it would end up in an argument." "Can you tell us where you think he would go?" Bobby asked them,"well, he has friends in the area, you might check with them," Anna answered, "these friends, they would be Jimmy Porter, David Smith, James Delgado & Marc Johnson, correct?" Noah asked, Anna nodded, "yes, that's them," she said, "ok, well, thank you for your time Mr. & Mrs. Carey, we appreciate your cooperation" Sam said, standing, "if there's anything else that you think of,or if you see or hear from him will you give me a call?" he asked, handing Anna his business card, she nodded "certainly" she said standing & showing them to the door, "thank you ma'am" Sam said, "anytime" Anna answered.

"Well, what do you think Sam?" Cosmo asked as they piled back into the Suburban, "I feel sorry for them," Savannah said, "putting up with bullshit like that, I'd have kicked his ass out years ago if he was treating me like that," they all agreed, "I think our best bet is going to be talking to his friends" Sam finally said, "something tells me he would contact them first."


End file.
